1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of computer software and, more particularly, to methods of controlling and providing additional selective overlays in a streaming media.
2. Description of Related Art
Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, in communications is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network (with packets if necessary). When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty.
However, currently, the Internet has not reached the level of popular use encountered by more traditional media sources such as television. Information from these more traditional media is typically broadcast in mass, often too many people who have no interest in the information. Because, for any individual, so much of the information is of little or no interest, much wanted information is lost in the information overflow from unwanted sources. Even the Internet, although providing more specialized information than other media, does not provide and tailor information for individual consumer's taste.
Furthermore, traditional media, and even the Internet in some respects, lack methods to specifically target advertisements to specific individual viewers. Additionally, methods of determining the viewing tastes of and gathering feedback regarding programming preferences from individual viewers is crude at best. The best methods currently available merely target programming and advertising to particular demographics based on rough statistics of what kind of individual is likely to be enjoy a particular program type. Furthermore, presently, methods for controlling the media delivered to viewers does not allow for fine tuning to cater to each individual.
Therefore, there is a need to provide methods for more selectively controlling the media streams delivered to individuals such that greater viewer satisfaction is achieved. Additionally, there is a need to provide methods for providing advertisements to viewers that have been more selectively tailored so as to more effectively capture the viewers attention. Furthermore, there is a need for methods of determining, in real time, viewer preferences such that programming may be dynamically tailored to be more pleasing to the viewer.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus for allowing customization of programming by a content provider.